As is well known, a microscope is an optical instrument used to view, examine and study very small objects. There are many different types of microscopes with different types being best suited for particular applications. Types of microscopes include, but are not limited to: compound microscopes, stereomicroscopes, confocal microscopes, inverted microscopes, and laser microscopes, etc.
Microscopes have long used stages for the positioning of samples within the optical path. An object can be manipulated by moving the stage forwards and backwards, left and right, and up and down. A common convention for naming the left-right, front-back, and up-down axes is x, y, and z, respectively.
Often, the focusing mechanism functions by adjusting the stage height. By changing the sample height, the microscopist can focus and observe different depths within the z-axis of the sample.
In order to adjust the x or the y position, the user must have available a stage control mechanism capable of performing this movement. Typically, both x and y adjustment are performed by a single mechanism. Additionally, this mechanism is located under and to one side of the stage.
Due to the variety of microscopists using these instruments, both left & right-handed stages are required. The location of the stage control mechanism is on the side of the stage matching the user's predominant hand of use. Further complicating the problem, a laboratory may have a left-handed and a right-handed user sharing a single microscope.
Having to match the stage configuration to the microscopist's predominate hand creates difficulty for the manufacture of product. Each microscope must be either a left-handed or a right-handed microscope. After the assembly is complete, changing the configuration requires significant disassembly and reassembly time, as well as requiring a complete additional stage mechanism. This problem also requires microscope manufacturers to maintain inventories of both left-handed and right-handed stage assemblies.
As a result, the assignee of the present application for patent has developed a microscope comprising a stage drive assembly that is easily removed and secured to opposite sides of a microscope stage as may be desired by the microscopist. Such microscope is described in an application filed concurrently herewith by the assignee, which application is entitled “Interchangeable Microscope Stage Drive Assembly” and incorporated herein by reference.
In view of the development of the interchangeable stage drive assembly described above, there has also arisen a need for a focus adjustment knob for a microscope that may also be easily released and fastened to opposite sides of a microscope/microscope stage.